It seems that these days, anytime we hear about children, ie HAVING children, it's bad stuff. They wreak havoc. They cost tons of money. They won't listen to you. They're not grateful. They take up all your time; you have no time left to do hobbies or relax. They're disobedient and unruly and embarrassing when you take them out in public. In short, they're stinkers. And expensive stinkers at that.
And yet the Bible calls children "a blessing from the Lord." "Happy is the man who hath his quiver full of them" and "he will not be ashamed when he standeth in the gate" [when he has a wise child] and all that stuff.
So where's the disconnect? Even Pentecostals are having less and less kids. You've seen it: 2-3 kids, max, for most people. Any bigger of a family is just "too much to handle". In fact, a lot of young couples are reluctant to have even one child. Because they know that kids take over not just your life, but your time, finances, and sanity.
So my question is, if the Bible assumes you'll have tons of kids and says that, in fact, having kids is an amazing blessing any way you cut it, why does it say that? And why is no one listening?
Friday, November 06, 2009
Kids
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3 comments:
"hath his quiver full" not hath his quiver overflowing. We don't live in an agrarian society where kids do a fare amount of the work. Our quivers have gotten smaller; now our kids don't do work they are work.
Awesome point! One which I've asked myself. I personally believe that if we don't see kids as a blessing, then we have not gained the Lord's perspective and need to seek it.
I have two kids. I'm 42. I wish, more than anything that I would have had this perspective a few years ago. I honestly believe it's because we have become too materialistic and self-seeking - even "us" Apostolics. It takes enormous sacrifice and self-discipline to raise kids.
I appreciate this article. It is a subject that needs to seriously be considered from a biblical perspective. The culture that we live in shouts very loudly that children are a burden, an inconvenience, too expensive, and the list goes on. But, the word of the Lord says blessings,an heritage,a reward. It also refers to children as arrows in the hand of a mighty warrior--I can guarantee you that if going to war I would not say...two arrows is all that I want. I would say give me all that you have, I'll find a place to put them, just give them to me! But arrows have to be prepared to hit the target--it takes a lot of time to "sharpen" them--much time, much effort, much energy. Selfishness has to be put aside because it can't all be about "me" it has to be about the end result--the target. I believe that the most effective evangelism tool is a godly family. The enemy knows that and has done many things through the years to blind society to that potential. God's word never changes. I fear that this negative view of children has slipped into our churches as well. I am a mother to 6 children and you should hear the comments that I get from my brothers and sisters in the church. Everything from "don't you know how that happens" "you should get a t.v" to "was it planned?" God planned every one of my blessings! He is the creator of life and has known them all even before they were placed in my womb--so glad that I didn't take it upon myself to reject any of them--just think of all that I would have missed out on. All the joy and even the hardships have done so much to bring me closer to the Lord.
I think that that the negativism towards children has been a long time in the making--a slippery slope, so to speak.
So when people ask me how many children I want I simply say all of them--all that the Lord has for me.
There's a quote that I absolutely love by Doug Phillips, "The Bible calls debt a curse and children a blessing; but in our culture, we apply for a curse and reject blessings. Something is wrong with this picture."
I also feel that if more emphasis would be placed on child training that families would be more open to more children. I've heard so many people say "I can't handle the two I've got" and they are absolutely worn to a frazzle and the thought of having more is out of the question. (That's another topic in itself;o)
Blessings to you! Thank you for listening to me, this is a subject that is very dear to my heart.
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